


Mixed Realities

by SpaceAlienBoy



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Choices, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reader-Insert, Reader-Interactive
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:27:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23661550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceAlienBoy/pseuds/SpaceAlienBoy
Summary: Falling through a portal was already enough to give Y/n a headache but now there's the talk of a murderer and now she's caught in the middle of helping find this murderer? Oh Gods, all she wanted was a nice walk, not all this.
Relationships: Apprentice/Asra (The Arcana), Apprentice/Asra/Julian Devorak, Apprentice/Julian Devorak, Apprentice/Julian Devorak/Original Female Character(s), Apprentice/Nadia (The Arcana), Apprentice/Portia Devorak, Apprentice/Reader, Asra (The Arcana)/Reader, Asra/Julian Devorak, Asra/Julian Devorak/Reader, Everyone/Everyone, Julian Devorak/Reader, Nadia (The Arcana)/Reader, Portia Devorak/Reader
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24





	Mixed Realities

**Author's Note:**

> I am writing this as I play. Not everything will be 100% correct because I have no idea what's going on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Posted: April 15, 2020  
> Edited: July 10, 2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I am writing this as I play. I have no idea how anything ends, who the hell Lucio is other than a dead Count, and I just learned who Muriel is. But I'm obsessed and in hell, please send help.
> 
> Updated Note: I've finished Julians route, started many others, deleted the game, and forgot most of what happened so we vibin. I know who Lucio is and I have a love-hate relationship with him, still don't know who Muriel is really

**_por·tal  
/ˈpôrdl/  
See definitions in:  
All  
Computing  
Anatomy  
noun  
1.  
a doorway, gate, or other entrance, especially a large and imposing one.  
Similar:  
doorway, gateway ,entrance, way in, way out, exit, egress, opening, door, gate, threshold, entryway  
2.  
a website or web page providing access or links to other sites.  
"many healthcare providers already utilize portals through which a patient can access test results"_ **

* * *

Y/n was hardly a person to be outside, much less hiking for over two hours but more so with music blaring through their headphones as they stared at the ground. Honestly, they had no idea where they were, Y/n was walking to walk, they needed some time outside after being in quarantine for almost five weeks. Hell, leaving their house was hardly anything they did anyways, they worked from home, had groceries delivered, worked out at home, they were basically a hermit but being forced to stay home? Now, Y/n couldn't stand it. So, they decided to finally leave the house and take a walk.

It was hardly a blessing, and more like a mistake. After the two hours on their feet, they finally took a moment and sat down on a rock, sighing and turning off their phone to avoid the rest of the calls and messages people bombarded them with. Not in the mood, didn't want to deal with it all.

They took a moment to rub their eyes, reaching around for their water bottle, only to scream and jump up. A snake startling them off the rock and tripping over their own feet and through the bushes. They only caught a glimpse of the white-skinned, red beaded eyed snake as they fell, seemingly through something as they kept falling and falling.

Y/n landed on the hard floor with a loud thud, their head, elbows, and tailbone thumping in pain. Even though they don't bruise easily, this was something that might've left a mark. Groaning, they sat up, rubbing the back of their head and looking around. They fell into... a room of some sort. Their own belongings scattered around the floor, and their bag was ripped. Out of habit, they reached for their phone first and cringed when they saw there was no signal. Well, no more annoying calls or texts, they laughed softly to themselves, which died down into a sigh. Y/n wasn't anywhere she recognized, the only window within the room didn't reveal any foliage like she had fallen into. Instead, it looked like it was pointed towards a couple other buildings, which were illuminated by moonlight, or so it seemed.

"Are you alright?"

Wide-eyed and startled, Y/n whirled around, trying to get to their feet too quickly at the same time and falling backward into a shelf. They curled up and covered their head with their arms, hoping to avoid any falling trinkets, but nothing ever came. Slowly, they lowered their arms and opened their eyes, watching as one of the owners held out her own arms, blue wisps of air floating around her, focusing her eyes above Y/n's head. The man standing next to her, almost pirate looking, seemed more concentrated on Y/n, his one uncovered eye scanning over them. They felt vulnerable, embarrassed.

Standing, while making sure they wouldn't hit the shelf again, Y/n stumbled over their words and breathing at the same time, muttering a quick apology and ducked back down to start picking up their stuff.

"Don't worry about it, not the first time someone somehow broke in-" The girl knelt to help gather Y/n's things.

In defense, Y/n stopped and cried, "I didn't break in! I-I promise! I don't even know how I got in here, I was just, I-" They slowly closed their mouth and glanced out the window again.

"Where are you from?" The pirate, who lacked a usual pirate accent Y/n was so used to visualizing, asked.

They laughed nervously, hesitantly taking the last remains of their belongings from the other person, whose name would be lovely to know. "I'm from [Region]. Where am I?"

The pirate rubbed his jaw. "Nowhere I'm aware of, and I've been to a lot of places. [Region] doesn't sound familiar, is it foreign-"

"You're in Versuvia," the softer of the two interrupted. "I'm Amari, the Apprentice of this shop. This is Julian, he decided to break in not long before you dropped in."

Y/n studied geography and never had they heard of Versuvia before. It's never been mentioned in history books, nor has anyone ever talked about it. From the looks of the room, it appeared to be around the Victorian Ages or maybe Renaissance. Two completely different periods, but Y/n couldn't see much to compare either. Although the clothing Amari wore looked precisely like those in the Renaissance period and those that Julian wore reminded Y/n of either a pirate or a plague doctor, or a mix of the two, though the Plague Doctor outfit was famous within the 1600s when Plagues littered the land, though Pirates did also live within those times. Y/n wasn't exactly sure of the outfits pirates wore, only going off of costumes they remembered.

"What period am I in? Is it the 1600's?" Y/n muttered to themselves, sifting through the small pile of papers they had brought with her on the hike, though none of them were their history papers.

Julian snorted, "1600's? What the hell is that?"

They blinked, trying to process the fact that he didn't know what the period was. It wasn't even something they could really explain to him either. Shaking their head, they examined their bag and asked, "Is there a way out of here so I can go back home?"

Amari stopped them. "We need to figure out how you got in here first because it wasn't through a window or a door."

"I was hiking, and I sat down to take a break, and there was this snake beside me that scared me, and I fell in some bushes, and uh, well, here I am." Y/n laughed nervously as they explained, lowering their head back down to reexamine their bag a third time.

"What sort of snake?" Amari questioned, glancing around the room and standing up.

Y/n's eyes roamed as they tried to regain the memory of what the snake looked like. "White, red eyes? I didn't get much of a good look as I fell."

Amari searched around the room, picking up what looked like a long piece of white cloth at a glance, and walked back. "This what she looked like?"

It wasn't the snake in general that scared Y/n, they weren't afraid of reptiles (unless they were Komodo Dragons), it was just how close it had gotten to their face that caused them to fall backward and drop their items. Again. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, actually. How the hell is it down here?"

"She," Amari corrected, "and Faust is her name. She's my Master's familiar. How she was with you before you came here is a mystery, though. I thought Asra took her with him when he left. There was hardly any time between when I did a reading with Julian and you coming in for her to leave and come back just as fast, unless..." They stopped and reached around the room, seemingly searching for something.

Julian made his way over to Y/n, helping retrieve their items yet again. "So, not from this world, are you?" He gingerly picked up their phone and tilted it around. "What..?"

Y/n gently took it from his hands. "A phone, touch screen." 

Julian looked even more lost.

"Eh... A device used for multiple functions that's much more technologically advanced than anything you guys might have, especially if you're confused as to what it is. It's a communication device mostly."

He shook his head, red curls bouncing around the eye patch he wore. "No idea, darling."

Y/n's eyes remained on his face, basically thoroughly studying the sculpture of his features and how _curly and soft his hair looked_. They meant it not as anything, only getting caught up in their own sort of thoughts, trying to memorize how his face worked. An artist sometimes needs some inspiration and a muse, but no one talks about that.

"See something you like?" He flirted, narrowing his eye, and arching his brow.

* * *

**_[Flirt Back]_ **

**_[Change The Subject]_ **

* * *

**_- > [Flirt Back] <-_ **

In a short burst of confidence, Y/n smirked, raised their head slightly and replied, "Yes, actually, I do. Maybe even more if I could see anything other than leather, though it does look good on you."

Julian's cheeks burst a bright red, and he coughed into his hands, stuttering. "O-oh. Well then, uh-"

"It would be great if you two could not while I'm in the room," Amari rolled her eyes, "I get it, love at first sight, but please."

Y/n turned from Julian, focusing on Amari as she stared at the ceiling in thought. "Any idea what she's doing?" They directed the question towards Julian, who shrugged, just as lost as they were.

* * *

**_- > [Change The Subject] <-_ **

Y/n said nothing in regards to his comment, rolling their eyes instead and focusing them on Amari, who stood in the middle of the room, her hands on their hips and head tilted towards the ceiling. "Any idea you know what she's doing?"

Julian, albeit looking a bit sad they just glossed over his comment, glanced over at the Apprentice as well. "Nope. Not a bit."

* * *

"Trying to figure out how they got here," she chimed in. "The only explanation I have is through a portal, but I can't seem to find any in here, so, whatever you came through closed as soon as you and Faust dropped in."

Y/n's heart dropped at the idea and could barely mutter out the word, "Meaning..?"

Amari sighed and turned back around, pulling her hair into a ponytail. "Meaning, there's no way back, and I don't know where Asra is. He'd know how to help, but he's long gone somewhere."

Julian 'tch'ed and crossed his arms. "So, we have a foreigner on our hands."

"What, you wanna come to the Palace with me?" Amari laughed, looking at the man. "Didn't you _just_ break in here?"

His face paled. "The Palace?"

"Yeah, the Countess came by before you came in and asked me to. So, if you want this to be a ' _we'_ problem, do you plan to come with me?"

"No."

"Alright, then."

Y/n looked back and forth between the two. One is a... criminal? The other is apparently an Apprentice that's going to a palace with a Countess. They jumped when they both turned to them, Amari's soft features smiling as she raked her fingers through her tied-up hair. Julian set his hands on his hips and shifted his weight, looking away constantly.

Amari stepped forward and held Y/n's hand. "We never got your name, dear!"

Y/n muttered it to her, looking away.

"A pleasure to meet you, Y/n. This is a little time-sensitive question, but who would you rather go with? I'm heading off to the Palace in the morning and Julian and heading out to Gods' know where."

Y/n glanced between the two again, trying to think of any possibilities that would go on if left alone to follow one or the other. On the one hand, they would get to go to a Palace and meet royalty. On the back of that hand, they could get herself in a lot of trouble by not knowing anything about where they are and everything about what everyone knows. On the other hand, they could run around the town and learn about it with an attractive criminal. On the back of that hand, he could kill them and leave their body to decompose somewhere because they're not known around here, and no one would miss them.

* * *

_**[Go With Julian]** _

_**[Go With Amari]** _

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes, ending on a cliffhanger and a choice. Hello darling readers, my name is Maxx and I'm your writer. I have never played the Arcana before, many things will be wrong as I continue to write everything and as I go through Julian's route. Or Nadias. Or Portias. Idk, I'll finish the prologue here (because I already finished that but forgot it already) and you guys can get to chose which route you wish to take.
> 
> Other than the routes, I will format this in a way where it will be choices. You get to see every choice you make and they all end up meeting up again in every other chapter, depending. I.E: If you chose Julian at the end of this, by the end of his chapter you will meet up with Amari and vice verse with their choice. I wanted to kinda make it a choosing game book. Idk, I had an idea, here's the idea, deal with the idea.
> 
> So, have fun! And don't fall through random portals.

**Author's Note:**

> Ah yes, ending on a cliffhanger and a choice. Hello darling readers, my name is Maxx and I'm your writer. I have never played the Arcana before, many things will be wrong as I continue to write everything and as I go through Julian's route. Or Nadias. Or Portias. Idk, I'll finish the prologue here (because I already finished that but forgot it already) and you guys can get to chose which route you wish to take.
> 
> Other than the routes, I will format this in a way where it will be choices. You get to see every choice you make and they all end up meeting up again in every other chapter, depending. I.E: If you chose Julian at the end of this, by the end of his chapter you will meet up with Amari and vice verse with their choice. I wanted to kinda make it a choosing game book. Idk, I had an idea, here's the idea, deal with the idea.
> 
> So, have fun! And don't fall through random portals.


End file.
